


Plop, Blob, Drip (and Love)

by damnneovelvet



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Canonical Age Difference, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Marriage Proposal, half-alien mark, johnny is whipped, soft boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:42:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25607557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damnneovelvet/pseuds/damnneovelvet
Summary: Johnny wonders if there exist other universes. And if they do, he wishes he would find himself a little wobbly blob of happiness in every one of those. Preferably called Mark Lee.(or)Snippets of their ordinary life and a christmas drabble.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 29
Kudos: 174





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yunliu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yunliu/gifts).



> happiest birthday Julie <3 thank you for meeting me this year. i started writing this for you a while ago, but i couldn't make it a full-fledged plot so i decided to just gift this little collection of scenes :D

The universe is a vast, vast thing. 

There exist all sorts of oddities in nature. There are the likes of blackholes -- shamed and treated like the very embodiment of gluttony -- and there are cosmic strings -- often ignored because they sound like they hold up the universe's pyjamas. 

And then there is _him_.

//

Johnny Suh is an impeccable worker. He smiles like he's learned how to charm from the sons of Aphrodite. He is neat at what he does (which mainly consists of editing photographs at a big fashion firm) and everyone on the floor swoons as he passes by them, coffee in hand and head a good foot higher than most. In one word, the man is immaculate. 

Although, most people forget he can get tired. And that's what happens one evening when his head is pounding with what feels like a bulldozer bashing into neural concrete. 

When he punches in the code to their apartment after struggling with massive road congestion, he wonders what Mark is up to.

He's long asked his boyfriend to give up on cooking because they can't possibly afford to renovate the kitchen. Another possibility is that he's knee deep in assignments and powering through a monster cup of coffee. Mark's never been too fond of leaving any work for the weekends. But from the squishy sounds he can hear as the door buzzes open, Johnny figures he's been cleaning.

And he's proven right when his eyes travel up to find a fairly big blob of clear slime crawling around the corners of the wall, trying to fit into the edges and extracting the toughest of dirt.

Gravity forces him to unstick from the ceiling and he falls, splattering onto the marble in smaller blobs. 

The slime gathers itself, vibrating and squealing at seeing Johnny's face. His sheen glistens -- opalescent -- under fluorescent lights and he jumps onto the man's shoulder, leaving a big lipless smooch (?) on his cheek.

"There's painkillers on the table and I made the bed, so you can shower and nap before dinner arrives!" Mark says, bouncing away. He wobbles when he lands on their dinner table and flattens to reach his phone. 

This is Mark Lee, alien extraordinaire.

This is the love of Johnny Suh's life. 

//

The first time he laid eyes on Mark, he knew there was something special about him. He's never seen eyes that round and...glittery. Abso-fucking-lutely sparkly and shiny and every other word that means the same thing. Eyes focussed on him in a big university cafeteria.

"I'd like a latte please, less sugar but more cream," Mark ordered, cheekbones high and fluffy dark hair.

Johnny nodded, swiftly moving around to prep the order as Taeyong rung up the register. He'd always been confident and wondered if the boy would appreciate a number scribbled on his -- "You think he's cute," Taeyong said, watching as the boy shuffled away, "Do you wanna leave your number on his cup?" 

Curse whatever deity gave him foresight. Johnny pocketed his marker after scribbling just the order details. 

"No, no thanks, he seems young," He had answered instead, as nonchalant as he could pretend to be.

"First year, Mark Lee," Taeyong says, stopping to turn and look Johnny straight in the eye, "My cousin. The one I told you about."

And that had sent shivers down Johnny's spine.

//

In human terms, Mark is the son of a _Homo sapiens_ male and an amoeboidal extraterrestrial _Blobbens sliminus_ female.

Textbooks say Mark should theoretically look like caviar all the time but he doesn't. He shifts between human and a generic watermelon-sized lump of gooey but not sticky transparent material at will and it stopped terrorising Johnny after a week of knowing Mark.

But aliens.

Of all the things Johnny has heard in this lifetime, they sure don't make any sense and he's spent years turning a blind eye to every attempted inclusion in pop culture of any form of blobbens. When stressed, his boyfriend deliberately googles alien facts and laughs off every inaccuracy with tears in his eyes.

If he could ever go back in time and tell a younger Johnny that the love of his life would be a half-alien cutiepie...he wouldn't, because chances are that younger Johnny would throw seltzer water into his face and get him jailed for posing as an imposter. 

There are a lot of other thoughts one could be having while flipping eggs on a Sunday morning, but this is Johnny Suh and he is famous for graduating with a thesis detailing the possibilities of manifesting impossibilities with the right mindset, team enrichment and solid marketing while majoring in graphic design.

"What are you thinking about?" Mark wraps his arms around Johnny's waist in a soft back-hug. They feel weirdly flubbery and when Johnny looks away from the sizzling pan, he finds two shiny rounded stubs (or are they hands?) peeking out of long, green sleeves. 

"Time travel, what about you sleepyhead?" 

"Oh, time travel...did you know my mother time travelled to the future by mistake once and then the government had her sign an NDA?" 

The egg burns.

//

"Is it weird?" Mark asks one day, cold toes pressing against Johnny's calves. They're snuggling into each other on the big discoloured sofa as the credits of a science fiction movie roll in front of them.

"What is?" Johnny asks, voice gentle.

"Dating an alien? Dating me? Don't you ever want to...I don't know, get a human boyfriend?"

"After all these years? I love you, Mark. That's all that matters to me. To be honest, it's just a bonus that your dick can turn to jelly--"

"Be serious for once!" He huffs -- cute, Johnny thinks -- and pouts, shuffling onto the older's lap. In the dim lighting of their living room with a light torrent of rain pattering against the windows, it's perfect. They're the image of calm love, thighs pressing into thighs, fingers intertwining, foreheads touching. It's warm and Mark is naturally cool to the touch but sometimes he runs warm, adapting to the temperature of Johnny's skin.

"You know I love you so much, Mark. Tell me, do you like this? Like us this way?"

"I know and I like it like this. Do you like it, John? Are you okay with having only me?" _Am I holding you back?_ _Am I really enough for you?_ Johnny hears in the light quiver of Mark's voice. 

For a moment, he's no longer in the comfort of their apartment but rather on a bench with ice-cream dripping down the curve of his wrist. The shell of a different Mark sits next to him, one who isn't his sweetheart yet, eyes rimmed red and face swollen. Under the sweltering sun, Mark confesses this isn't it. He feels lesser when he isn't supposed to. This state he's in doesn't make sense to him anymore, it leaves him feeling more confused than he has ever been, and the longer he latches onto being just human, the harder he falls on his face. 

His knees bruise blue with how often he's scraped them -- once more and his heart will run out of blood to pump. And yet, what Mark's most afraid of is hurting others, of admitting that he isn't cut out for this world because he is afraid he will leave someone else crying into their pillow the same way he does every night.

Johnny runs a careful hand up the younger's back, pulling him closer till their foreheads no longer touch and they're chest to chest. A gentle hand pushes back the hair falling into Johnny's eyes and he smiles. 

"I'm happy with us. I'm happy, really, you're more than enough for me and you make my days shine brighter." 

Mark circles his arms around Johnny's neck, biting back a smile, "So you really wouldn't want a human boyfriend? A sex friend at least?" Mark sounds very pleased but he has never learned how to relent.

"I know you like complete exclusivity," Johnny replies, leaning forward to brush his lips against a high cheekbone, "We've made it so far with just the two of us, and never forget, in our relationship, it's both or none, alright?"

"Both or none," Mark whispers into the small space between them, his smile widening.

"Besides, I thought we'd gotten over the whole alien-human thing years ago."

Mark hums in reply, smugly pushing his body even closer. "Did we now?"

"If you kiss me, I'll consider that we did." 

Within the blink of an eye, Mark's lips are pressed onto Johnny's, the ghost of a smile lingering when Johnny cups his face with both hands to deepen the kiss. Both of them groan when Mark's tongue licks past the seam of Johnny's lips, hot and heavy. It's insane how a little bit of warmth, some slickness, can drive both of them crazy, especially when they've been at it for years. 

As Mark tugs at Johnny's lower lip to suck at it, Johnny feels so grateful for every slow phase they've gotten over. There have been so many times when excitement has been lacking but he's so so fucking glad Mark talks too much and likes to listen too much and that they've been able to work through every knot that's formed in the thread of their relationship. Johnny kisses back eagerly, eyes closed right and Mark's lips the only source of life he has ever known.

Mark pulls back to breathe, eyes focussed on the glistening pink lips in front of him.

"You said something about my dick earlier."

"I did."

"You wanna do something about it? Because I don't think it's gonna keep feeling like jelly for very long."

//

Johnny wakes up to cold lips wrapped around the shell of his ear, jelly-like teeth nibbling at his skin.

"Get up, we're going to Taeyong's today, it's annual thread-making," Mark whispers into his ear, voice low and raspy. It makes Johnny's body melt, a desperate need to keep Mark under the covers overtaking all logic.

"Can we skip? Just this year? We can go twice next year to make up for it."

"Yeah, sure, unless you want Yong to gobble up your head," Mark scoffs then shifts his nibbling to the soft spot between Johnny's neck and shoulder. 

"Mark, who the hell even says gobble anymore?" 

"I do, because I will gobble you," Mark laughs airily, rubbing his palms up Johnny's sides slowly, head lifting up to look into Johnny's eyes. 

"Good morning," he whispers, cheeks red.

"Good morning to you too, Markie."

"Get ready, we have to be there before nine," Mark says. He slides off the bed and heads to pick out clothes from their shared wardrobe. 

"Hypothetically, what will Taeyong do to me if I don't show up?" Johnny turns onto his side.

"He's your best friend, why don't you already know?" Mark retorts, head buried under a pile of freshly washed clothes. 

"What _can_ he do? Glare at me?" 

Mark laughs, uninhibited and that's Johnny's favourite sound in this whole wide universe. Nothing beats Mark like this, soft, loving, caring, cared for and laughing because he can afford to laugh. Happiness shouldn't come at a cost. 

"You do know that Taeyong's the one you're gonna have to ask if you ever decide to get married to me?" 

"Wait, why? What about your--"

"In our society, we ask the family member closest to us and then the member just older than us. There's no one else born between me and Yong, and we're pretty close too so he checks off both those boxes."

Mark steps back with a few sets of clean clothes in his hands and lays them all on the bed to choose. 

"Why did I not know this? Why did none of you ever tell me?" Johnny fakes being affronted, but secretly, he's known since day one that if having Mark Lee for the rest of his life were a video game, Taeyong would be the final boss. Complete with horns and a spiky tail. The guy may be the reason why Johnny went on that first date with Mark back in college but he's also secretly very...very. Yeah. He's very. 

"This is Yong's form of testing you, you miss one annual thread-making and he's gonna refuse to hand me over, that's what he can do. So you better get dressed up, Johnny boy."

"Of all the people in the world, why do I have to fear Taeyong?" 

"You probably don't know but amongst us half-aliens, he's got the record for deadliest speed."

That piques Johnny's interest, "And how fast is that?"

"He could carry you to Paris on his shoulders in about twenty minutes. Mad wild, if you ask me, I'm pretty much stuck at human speed."

//

It is very easy to forget that Mark's still a university student with how much time he spends at home. Exam seasons are when Johnny faces this harsh reality.

Mark's a diligent student with overall good scores and he's soon going to be the proud owner of a master's degree. This makes Johnny's chest swell with pride the same way a mother duck probably feels when her youngest duckling learns how to paddle. That's a very wrong analogy, but it's the only thing that can explain Johnny's dilemma. 

He's been out of school for four years now. Four years of slaving away for capitalism and falling into the vicious grip of office culture (which is just like high school but on the funniest drugs ever), he seems to be losing touch with what Mark must be struggling with at the moment. Of course, he remembers having caffeine-fuelled breakdowns of his own in the very bedroom they share but there's not much he can do for Mark other than lend a shoulder to cry on. And that sucks. 

Which is what leads him to run a spreadsheet and calculate enough savings to take Mark on a nice weekend staycation after graduation. If Mark's mother -- Johnny shudders at the thought -- is going to gift him something, Johnny hopes it's tickets to some island where the two of them can laze under the sun all day. 

Another thing Johnny's been working overtime to save for...is a ring. This has been an ongoing project since Mark's fall break last year. If Johnny has to spend more autumns on Earth, he wants to spend them staring at Mark -- scrunched up nose and skin shining under patches of filtered sunlight, yellow, orange and every colour that means warmth and love. 

It's time he proposes. Once he has a ring.

An hour into editing pictures and looking for custom jewelers on a side tab, the main door opens.

If Johnny didn't know better, he would mistake Mark's exhausted form for a life-size candle figurine that had started to melt. He can practically see a flame flickering on top of the man.

Mark's head hangs low -- his cute hair whorl in full view -- and his arms sway in front of him, back bent at a dangerous angle. His bag is dragging behind him on the floor and in one hand, he's carrying an open packet of cheesy rings. 

"I'm home," he whines, closing the door gently.

"Welcome home, honey," Johnny jumps up to get him a glass of water. He doesn't have to think much, it's muscle memory at this point and he's already done filling a glass with clean water when Mark's head thuds against his shoulder. 

"I don't want water, I want to crush uni with a single finger." He mumbles.

"I'd love it if that happened too, can't your mother just laser the education ministry away?" Johnny asks, humour seeping into his voice as he tries to keep from shuddering. Mentioning the mother just does that, brings back memories of their first meeting at an iceberg. 

"If I asked, she would and then our settlement would have to leave the planet...I hate it here, why is nothing in my favour, ever," the arms around Johnny's torso tighten and he overflows with affection. 

"I'm here, Mark, if that counts," he says. He keeps the glass aside and turns to look at Mark fondly. 

It's little moments like these that remind Johnny that everything he works for is worth it -- for Mark in his arms, soft, for the lovely silence of their home that lets them hear each other's heartbeats, for the future they have in front of them, always uncertain but they're comfortable enough in their shoes to face it together. 

"Give me your hand." Mark says, voice tired but steady as he pulls back an arm and offers his own hand for Johnny to take.

The moment Johnny reaches out, palm facing Mark, the younger shuffles around to reach on the counter behind him and brings back a single cheese ring. It's scruffy, it's laden in orange coloured artificial dust and when Mark tries to fit it onto Johnny's ring finger, the thing threatens to crumble before crossing a single joint. But it's there. It itches and Johnny is suddenly breathless. It's there.

"Marry me, Johnny. Once I'm out of this shitspiral and employed, marry me." Mark says confidently. 

He smiles, a beautiful smile that reaches his eyes and they sparkle even when there's barely any light to reflect off them. Johnny feels the corners of his eyes burning with tears but he won't cry. This is a day he's going to mark on his personal calendar and decorate it with holographic stickers of Mark's adorable round head. 

"Mark fucking Lee, you're proposing to me with a cheese snack?" 

Mark laughs, falling into Johnny -- the way two drops of water collide to become one -- and rubs his cheek against Johnny's neck. This is it. This is all he wants forever and even though Johnny refused to cry a second earlier, he's sobbing out of happiness. The crook of his neck feels wet and he cradles Mark's head with his other hand.

"It's only fitting to propose to a snack with a snack, don't you think?"

//

Mark Lee is half-alien. Johnny Suh is fully human. 

Their wedding is a clash of cultures, of a hundred different coloured blobs sitting in the audience with Johnny's human family crying right next to them. Mark's mother spreads a chill good enough to combat the summer sun and Taeyong zooms around trying to keep everything in check. 

It's perfect. 

Johnny wonders if there exist other universes. And if they do, he wishes he would find himself a little wobbly blob of happiness in every one of those. Preferably called Mark Lee.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just husbands on Christmas evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a drabble meant for twitter but the word count came to 940 words and I decided to add it here :D
> 
> Merry Christmas!

As a child, Johnny loved the idea of a white Christmas. Snow is pretty. The world becomes a little more beautiful than it always is when lights bounce off frosted windows. He used to think that snowfall was a gift from the stars, and while he's old enough to be chased out of water theme parks now, he likes to believe that the wind carries traces of magic at this time of the year. Sure, snow makes everything difficult. It's uneasy beneath the boots, forces him to spend extra on sturdy tires, and leaves everything squelching but it lifts his mood. 

Johnny Suh loves pretty. Look at his chic coat -- pretty -- and look at his choice of decoration bobbles -- super pretty, he's clearly won over Taeyong this year -- but most of all, look at his husband -- the prettiest of them all. 

From where Johnny stands in the kitchen, waiting for their meringues to bake, he sees Mark's elongated, wobbly arms stretching out of his sweater sleeves. His round hands carry their ugly, angel-shaped tree topper carefully. He places it, with his tongue poking out, and sighs when it fits.

Then it tilts backwards and falls. It would be fine, only if there weren't a little crackling sound as it hits the floor.

Mark's face turns blank. 

"Johnny," he says, and his arms drop to the floor with a soft plop, "I think I broke our main decoration."

"I saw." 

"What are we going to do now, what will I tell mom," Mark whips around to face Johnny, his expression etched with pure fear. 

The little angel had arrived at their doorstep two days ago. The first time Johnny touched it, he shivered. Truly a gift from Mark's mother. Then he had set it aside, facing the wall because the angel had a scary face (he's not going to lie, it showed up in his nightmares).

"We don't have to tell her," Johnny shrugs, biting back a smile. Mark probably doesn't realise his arms are trailing behind him as he steps away with a dejected face.

Here, standing in front of an unnecessarily tall, unlit Christmas tree, Mark looks like he belongs. 

Johnny wants to make him glow.

The baking timer still has fifteen minutes left on it and brave fool Mr. Suh believes if he steps into the living room, he will be able to come back. 90% chances are their meringues will burn. He's willing to eat ultra-crispy brown egg whites as long as the rest of their dinner survives.

"Is it bad that I'm not sad it broke?" Mark asks, looking at the remains. The topper looks like it's been cleaved -- it rests in two smooth pieces. 

Johnny still doesn't understand what material it's made of. Probably something only the _Blobbens_ know. Too much forbidden knowledge with one species. At least Johnny and his family will be fine if they decide to wage a war since he's married to their cutest baby.

"No, it was ugly. You know it." Johnny feels an icy tickle at the small of his back. 

"She probably drew the face herself." Mark frowns. No wonder the angel had felt like that spooky. 

"It was an accident. You'll be fine, she will understand. Let's just put it back in the box and -- " Johnny curses himself, " -- put it near the photo frames?" He's going to have mother-in-law shaped nightmares everyday but the smile forming on Mark's face is worth it.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." 

Mark starts retracting his arms but it ruins Johnny's plans and he asks Mark to stay like that for a minute. 

"Why?" 

"Just trust me," he says with a wink and finds the switch for the tree lights. He clicks it on and -- 

"The fuck, Johnny!" 

Mark's eyes are shut tightly and his nose is scrunched in the adorable way only he manages to pull off. What's most important though, is that his arms _glow_. 

The otherwise transparent, jelly-like limbs reflect the bright golden lights. Mark's skin often absorbs a little light and Johnny feels like an Olympic winner now that his husband's arms look like glow-sticks. He's a genius. 

"You're like a lightstick. I don't even need to buy any merch now, I can take you to concerts."

Mark squints his eyes open as he moves away from the tree but he doesn't turn his arms human again. Johnny loves him.

"You take me to a concert in human form or not at all."

"Mark, make your teeth wobbly, I wanna see if if they glow too -- "

Their meringues burn. Mark's teeth don't reflect as much light as his arms do but when he melts into a huge ball and rolls around the bottom of the tree, he looks glorious, like a massive, shiny bobble. 

Johnny feels like the warmth in his chest will strangle him because it's just so cute. He can't believe they've never tried hanging Mark on their tree even though they've spent so many Christmases together. He'll try that next.

There are many benefits to having a half-alien husband. He can become a glow-stick in the correct lighting. He can be carried around town in a shopping bag. He can sneak around and get the latest gossip from wherever. His cool touch is the best salve for a work-related migraine. 

But the best benefit of a _Blobbens_ husband has to be this: no matter how Johnny hugs him, Mark will always fit. 

//

(p.s. They dig out their wedding cake toppers -- because Johnny is sentimental like that and keeps them in his cupboard -- and glue it to a piping cone to make a new tree topper. It doesn't fall. Mark's mother is happier to see it than she would have been if they had used her gift.)

**Author's Note:**

> Lower your shoulders and Unclench your Jaw:
> 
> [Keep check of your Mental Health ](https://checkpoint.carrd.co/#)  
> [ChilledCow Lo-Fi](https://youtu.be/DWcJFNfaw9c)  
> \---  
> [ Keep in check with the pandemic ](https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019)


End file.
